An Australian plane will also be involved in the transportation of the victims’ bodies from Ukraine to Amsterdam, Prime Minister Tony Abbott told reporters.

A RAAF C-17 transport jet will fly the bodies of the 37 Australian citizens and residents killed to the Netherlands under phase one of Operation Bring Them Home, which will be headed by retired Air Chief Marshal Angus Houston.

Earlier, Mr Abbott described the aftermath of the MH17 air disaster as “evidence tampering on an industrial scale”.

The PM said the last few days have been a difficult and trying time for our country and that the MH17 crash site in eastern Ukraine had been “trampled from the beginning”.

“After the crime, comes the cover-up,” Mr Abbott said. “What we have seen is evidence tampering on an industrial scale — and that has to stop.”

The Prime Minister told reporters in Canberra the objectives now are to retrieve the bodies of the victims, to secure the crash site, to conduct the investigation and to bring justice.

Checkpoint attack ... the city of Donetsk, which came under fire on Monday, has been hit by a suicide bomber.Source: AFP

A RAAF C-17 transport jet will fly the bodies of the 37 Australian citizens and residents killed from Ukraine to the Netherlands under phase one of Operation Bring Them Home, which will be headed by retired Air Chief Marshal Angus Houston.

Mr Abbott said “we want to ensure the aftermath of the event is not as tragic as the event itself.”

“To President Putin’s credit, he has thus far been good to his words,” Mr Abbott said.

Negotiations are underway to establish an international security force to lock down the disaster site that could include Australian troops.

No dignity ... international monitors examine the railway carriages containing the victimsSource: AFP

Teams of disaster victim identification specialists will receive the bodies when the refrigerated train arrives in the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv.

Once there an international team of experts, including 20 Australian Federal Police disaster victim identification specialists, will begin the grim task of identifying the 298 victims.

Tensions rise ... Ukrainian troops driving near the eastern Ukrainian city of Kramatorsk, north of Donetsk.Source: AFP

The bodies will ultimately be handed to a funeral contractor who will prepare them for the long journey home in specially iced caskets inside the cargo hold of the RAAF’s biggest aircraft.

Mr Abbott said the task could take weeks and he did not rule out Australian involvement in a security operation around the crash site.

The United Nations Resolution authorises the presence of security elements on the ground and Mr Abbott said it should include countries whose citizens were killed and he again demanded that the site be secured.

“It looks more like a building demolition than a forensic investigation,’ he said.

Mr Abbott said there was a ceasefire in place around the crash site and that would help investigators to do their work.

“I am much more optimistic today than I was yesterday,” he said.

Mr Abbott said he hoped Air Chief Marshal Houston could visit the site as soon as possible.

Mr Abbott’s tough-talking stance stood in stark contrast to Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, who was slated for his limp-response and pandering to Mr Putin in three phone calls since

the tragedy.

But now that the 282 victims — including 192 Dutch — are being transported back to the Netherlands, Mr Rutte is being hailed as the diplomatic hero.

Some political experts believe it was a carefully orchestrated co-ordinated response between the Western allies to play the good-cop bad-cop routine.

The strong language of Mr Abbott was facilitated by Australia’s geographical distance from Russia, the Dutch say. They argue they couldn’t have used the tough talk of Abbott because of Russia’s military strength just a few hundred kilometres away.

Dealings ... Russian President Vladimir Putin, says Tony Abbott, has been “good to his word”.Source: AP

Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said the UN Security Council’s unanimous adoption of Australia’s strongly worded resolution sounded a warning to the pro-Russian separatists not to further contaminate the site or hamper investigators.

In most countries an immediate secure cordon would have been established around the entire crash site.

EU CONSIDERS SANCTIONS ON RUSSIA

British prime minister David Cameron has attempted to push a series of hardened economic sanctions against Russia and was trying to overcome the self-interest reluctance of France and German to co-operate in a Europe-wide response to the calamity that struck Flight MH17.

The British want tough restrictions on Russian banks and airlines and to freeze the assets of the Russian oligarchs and cronies that support Putin, but who have substantial financial interests in London. Such a move would have short term financial consequences for the city, the chancellor George Osborne conceded, but will also have impact on high profile identities such as Roman Abramovich, the owner of Chelsea Football Club.

The European Union countries were meeting in Brussels overnight to consider the request.

The Dutch foreign minister Frans Timmermans arrived for the EU meeting fresh from the United Nations in New York demanding a new and aggressive response to Russia’s involvement in the tragedy.

“This is not about economics and trade,’’ he said on entering the meeting.

“This is about safety and justice for nearly 200 Dutch who cruelly died.

“What’s changed since Thursday should also be reflected in the policies of the European Union’’

Britain has already imposed some sanctions, which has raised the ire of Vladimir Putin, who refused to take calls from Cameron in the first three days following the disaster.

Abbott: After the crime come the cover up
2:39

PM Tony Abbott says the aftermath of the MH17 disaster looks like 'evidence tampering on an industrial scale'.

News Corp Australia

22 Jul 2014

News

Cameron now wants to up the ante further and impose the strongest possible economic sanctions against Russia but the a €1.2 billion French warships deal with Russia and the reliance of German French and Italian defence sales to Russia was a stumbling block.

Cameron said it was unthinkable for France to complete the order for Mistral warships for Vladimir Putin.

‘’We have already said we would not sell further arms to Russia,’’ he said.

‘’We believe other European countries should be doing the same thing. Frankly in this country it would be unthinkable to fulfil an order like the one outstanding that the French have. But we need to put the pressure on with all our partners to say that we cannot go on doing business as usual with a country when it’s behaving in this way.”

Cameron told the British parliament that Germany, France and Italy combined are responsible for 90 per cent of defence exports to Russia.

“It is time to make our power, influence and resources felt,’’ Cameron said. “If Russia does not change course then we must be clear Europe must keep increasing the pressure.

“Russia cannot expect to continue enjoying access to European markets, European capital, European knowledge and technical expertise while she fuels conflict in one of Europe’s neighbours. ‘’We must do what is necessary to stand up to Russia and put an end to the conflict in Ukraine before any more innocent lives are lost.”

REBELS HAND OVER BLACK BOXES

Earlier, pro-Russian separatists controlling the MH17 crash site handed over the plane’s black boxes to a team of Malaysian investigators.

The breakthrough came after direct negotiations between Malaysia Prime Minister Najib Razak and the self-proclaimed prime minister of the Donetsk People’s Republic, Alexander Borodai.

The transfer was completed in the early hours of 1.10am local time on the 11th floor of the self-styled Donetsk People’s Republic’s administration building.

The two black boxes were handed over after hours of talks and one aborted attempt earlier at 10pm. It is not clear why they were not passed at earlier occasion during the night.

“We have decided to hand the black boxes over to Malaysian experts,” Borodai said.

The Malaysian team of experts and representatives of the separatist group then signed a protocol before the bright orange boxes were handed over.

“On behalf of the Malaysian government I thank the government of the Donetsk Republic for handing us the two black boxes which are the property of Malaysia,” said a member of the Malaysian team. “We have not found the black boxes from flight MH370 (which disappeared over the Indian Ocean in March), so are happy to be able to recover these.

“I see that the black boxes are intact with only minor damage.” One of the boxes will contain all conversation in the cockpit and another all flight data.

During the transfer Borodai again denied that rebels were responsible for downing the Malaysia Airlines jetliner with 283 passengers and 15 crew on board.

“The Ukrainians had the technical capabilities and the motives to do it,” he was quoted as saying.

The flight recorders will provide the exact time the Boeing 777 came down, its speed and altitude but it may not point to what catastrophic event caused it to break up midair although it is strongly suspected to have been a missile fired from an SU-11 mobile guided missile unit from Russia.

Late Tuesday he called for the third prong of his agreement with Alexander Borodai to be honoured - that investigators be given full access to the site of the MH17 crash in Eastern Ukraine.

Mr Najib said the black boxes would be held by the Malaysian authorities until the international investigation team to probe the crash has been formalised at which time they will be handed to the team for analysis.

Mr Najib announced at midnight on Monday that he had brokered a deal with the rebels to enable the bodies of those on board to be released and for the black boxes to be handed over as well as full access to the plane’s resting place.

“I am pleased to confirm that the first two conditions have now been met. The train carrying the remains of those who lost their lives has arrived in Kharkhiv, where arrangements will be made to move them to Amsterdam,” Mr Najib said.

He said the black boxes, now in the custody of Malaysian authorities in Ukraine, appeared to be in good condition.

“These were extraordinary circumstances which called for extraordinary measures. There were risks involved in pursuing this agreement. But we felt an obligation to explore all avenues to break the impasse, and secure the return of the remains and the black boxes. After meeting the families, I felt that we owed it to them to act.

“So far, the agreement has been honoured. Malaysia requests that this co-operation continue, and that investigators are granted the full access to the site which was agreed.”

Mr Najib thanked the Malaysian team on the ground in the Ukraine for their work in securig the agreement.

The handover comes separatist militia that had kept an armed presence at the site since last week abandoned their posts as convoys of tanks and troops from both sides in the Ukrainian civil war prepared for fresh clashes.

The three major crash sites of the aircraft were left open to the public late yesterday with militia troops pulling out totally leaving the blackened wreckage and personal belongings of its passengers out in the elements. No international investigator or observer was there to secure and preserve the crime site yesterday.

The transfer to Dutch military aircraft will be observed by Australia’s ambassador to Ukraine, Jean Dunn, and a defence attache from London.

Two other Australian consular officials are then expected to travel on the Dutch C130 Hercules to Amsterdam.

The plane will be greeted there by Australia’s ambassador to the Netherlands, Neil Mules, and a defence attache from The Hague. In Holland, forensic experts from Australia will assist in the identification process. A number are already on the ground while many more are understood to be en route.

It is understood Mr Abbott’s special envoy in Ukraine, retired Air Chief Marshal Angus Houston, met with the Ukrainian president soon before the train left Torez.

He’s also held discussions with Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) chief monitor Ertugrul Apakan regarding when Australian experts may be able to access the crash site.

UN BACKS MH17 ACTION

Australia’s draft resolution demanding “full and unrestricted access’’ for investigators to the Malaysia Airlines jet crash site in eastern Ukraine has been adopted unanimously by the United Nations Security Council.

Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop, who was in New York, applauded the 15-0 vote and demanded a ceasefire at the site, the bodies be treated “with dignity’’ and Russia use its influence to bring the conflict to an end.

“Today the Security Council has responded,’’ Ms Bishop said.

She told the meeting Australia was in mourning and it was “despicable’’ access was not being provided to the site.

Support ... Russian Ambassador to the United Nations Vitaly Churkin stands before the Security Council meeting at the United Nations in New York.Source: AFP

The resolution demands “the armed groups in control of the crash site and the surrounding area refrain from any actions that may compromise the integrity of the crash site and immediately provide safe, secure, full and unfettered access to the site and surrounding area for the appropriate investigating authorities’’.

The ayes have it ... Foreign Minister Julie Bishop leads the vote during the Security Council meeting at the United Nations in New York.Source: AFP

“The adoption of this resolution is a decisive step by the Security Council,’’ Ms Bishop said.

“It is an unambiguous response from the international community to an utterly deplorable act — the shooting down of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 killing all 298 passengers and crew onboard, including 80 children.’’

Bishop told the meeting Australia wanted immediate access to the crash site for investigators.

“Grief is now accompanied by outrage as we witness grotesque violations at the crash site,’’ Ms Bishop said.

“This demands a response. That is why Australia has brought this resolution to the Security Council.’’

Speaking after the resolution was passed, Russia’s representative to the Council, Vitaly Churkin, deflected responsibility for the crash saying it was the result of “armed clash in Ukraine’’.

He also accused the United States UN representative of being ill-informed about the steps Russia had taken to ensure international experts could access the site as soon as possible.

If that was the case, the American Embassy should be better informed, he said.

“Indeed there is no need to turn a tragedy into a farce,’’ Mr Churkin said.

Prime Minister Tony Abbott welcomed the UN’s stance on MH17.

“Today’s resolution lends the full weight of the Security Council in condemning the attack and extending the international community’s deepest sympathies and condolences to the families of all the victims of this tragic incident,” Mr Abbott said in a statement.

“Australia will continue to do everything in its power to ensure this barbaric act is thoroughly investigated and the perpetrators brought to justice.”

‘FIGHTER JET NEAR PLANE BEFORE CRASH’

Russia says its flight records show a Ukrainian fighter jet was flying close to the Malaysian passenger airliner just before it crashed and that Kiev was operating radar stations used for missile systems.

At a specially called briefing, Moscow also denied supplying Ukrainian separatists with Buk missile systems or any other weapons, as it sought to head off international accusations it was responsible for the downing of the Malaysian plane with 298 people on board.

Lieutenant-General Andrei Kartopolov said the Malaysian plane strayed north of its planned route, adding that a Ukrainian SU-25 fighter jet, which is typically equipped with air-to-air missiles, had been recorded in the proximity of the Boeing 777.

The Malaysian plane “deviated from its route to the North ... The maximum deviation was 14 kilometres,” he said.

“An altitude gain was recorded for a Ukrainian armed forces plane,” he told the briefing. “Its distance from the Malaysian Boeing was three to five kilometres,” he said, noting that the SU-25 is capable of reaching a height of 10,000 metres “for a brief time.” “With what aim was a military plane flying along a civilian aviation route practically at the same time and at the same flight level as a passenger liner?” said Kartopolov. “We would like to receive an answer to this question.”

Civil war ... smoke rises from an old factory as intense shelling rocked the area in the rebel stronghold of Donetsk in eastern Ukraine.Source: AFP

AIRLINE COMPENSATES FAMILIES

Malaysia Airlines says it will make an initial payment of $US5000 ($5410) as a goodwill gesture to families of passengers aboard its crashed flight MH17.

The Malaysian national carrier said it would provide the money to each passenger’s immediate family “as goodwill to ease ... their economic needs”.

“This financial assistance will not be offset against the final compensation, nor affect the families’ legal rights to claim.”

The airline said it was also providing families with hotel accommodation, meals and transport assistance, in addition to counselling.

Comments on this story

Elizabeth Hastings of New Town Posted at 10:03 PM July 22, 2014

Don, why complain that some comments on this site have a political slant to them when our PM has already been politicising this tragic event from the beginning. Same as the Americans. The whole incident is just heartwrenching, but the "blame the Russians" from our so-called leaders is just so hypocritical and opportunistic. The American navy shot down a civilian passenger plane in similar circumstances in 1988 - and now they are playing holier-than-thou? Just sickening!

Brendan Williams of Hobart Posted at 9:21 PM July 22, 2014

Sorry Don, I'm not biased against Abbott but in this case he's embarrassed himself and us on the world stage. It seems most likely that MH17 was shot down by accident by rebels who thought they were shooting down a Ukrainian fighter jet. Tragic and horrible, no doubt at all, but it's pitiful seeing Western politicians use the deaths of 290-odd innocents as leverage in their war of words against Russia. Show some respect for the dead and leave the politics out of it.

Peter James of Hobart Posted at 8:44 PM July 22, 2014

How about you lot give it a rest and leave it a while before using this tragedy to get on your political soapboxes.